Disney released some big news about two forthcoming films in the Star Wars saga on Thursday, revealing that the usual three-year wait between films in the first two trilogies has been halved, thus Star Wars: Episode VIII will hit theaters on May 26, 2017.

The second film in the series' sequel trilogy, which gets under way this December with Director J.J. Abrams' "The Force Awakens," also has a very significant release date: nearly 40 years to the day that the first Star Wars film was released way back in 1977. In fact, we'd even bet the release gets pushed up a day to mark the occasion.

Disney's first planned Star Wars stand-alone movie officially has a title and its first star.

Actress Felicity Jones (The Theory Of Everything) is set to star in Rogue One, which will hit theaters on December 16, 2016 and be directed by Gareth Edwards (2014's Godzilla), Disney Chairman and CEO Robert Iger announced during a shareholder meeting in San Francisco on Thursday.

Jones is rumored to be playing a young Princess Leia in the film, but there's no confirmation on her character or the premise of the film.

A second spinoff is also planned for release between Episodes VIII and IX of th...

Actor Peter Mayhew, who plays the Wookiee Chewbacca in the "Star Wars" movie saga, has been hospitalized with pneumonia.

The actor, 70, was admitted to the hospital over the weekend and was forced to cancel an appearance at a Texas comic book store.

His wife, Angie, took to Reddit.com to confirm the news, thanking fans for their well-wishes and explaining that he's doing fine.

"Hello all! Thank you for all the well wishes, prayers, good vibes, and happy thoughts," she posted on the social website. "Peter is indeed in the hospital with pneumonia. He will make a full recovery, and hope to ...

If there wasn't already enough buzz about "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" going around, Newark, California's Tom BetGeorge just upped the anticipation level with his latest display of Christmas lights.

BetGeorge, a music teacher and director for the COVA Conservatory in Oakland, created an amazing Christmas display in his front yard, complete with musical instruments that light up, spotlights and even a little smoke, and set up a lightshow that runs with a few different pieces of music, including a mix of the major theme songs from the "Star Wars" trilogies.

The Force has awakened in the first teaser for the highly-anticipated "seventh film in the Star Wars" saga!

J.J. Abrams promised fans that the first sneak-peek would arrive on Friday, Nov. 28 and be shown in select theaters, but anticipation was so high that the director's production company, Bad Robot, gifted us all with the first glimpse of the film much earlier than expected, and no one has to find a way to one of the dozen or so cities exclusively showing it before all movies.

With a year to go and lots of post-production special effects to be added, the little tease already looks e...

The first official teaser trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is set to hit movie theaters on Friday, giving fans "a tiny peek" at what director J.J. Abrams and his team have been doing.

Late last week rumors circulated that the first teaser for the film would come over the Thanksgiving holiday, and on Monday Abrams uploaded a photo of a note he wrote to his Twitter page, officially making the announcement that an 88-second look at the film would hit select theaters.

Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels, who played the golden droid C-3PO all six films in the saga so far, told producers of the forthcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, that he would only sign on to reprise his role if he would actually be in the film in costume and not voice a computer generated (CG) version of the character.

The actor was offered the old role by Episode VII director J.J. Abrams, who told him at the time that he only needed him to voice the character, so Daniels originally turned down the role.

"When J.J. Abrams rang me to ask about filming Episode VII, one of the first things he ...

Think you know everything there is to know about every "Star Wars" movie? Consider yourself a "Star Wars" aficionado? How could you not know at least some facts about one of the most important film franchises of all time? It's part of our culture, something most kids and adults watched and loved for at least some period of their lives. You may think you know everything about this rich universe, but there's always more to learn.

On May 25, 1977, director/writer George Lucas re-invented the movies with a risky new film he created called Star Wars.

The film's success spawned two sequels (The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi), three prequels (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith), a TV show (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), and a myriad of "Expanded Universe" stories - from novels to comic books to video games.

Star Wars was originally based on the old Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s, where weekly installments mov...

Just months after acquiring Lucasfilm in a multi-billion-dollar deal and announcing a plan to continue the Star Wars movie saga well into the future -- starting with "Star Wars Episode VII" in 2015 -- Disney has announced the development of a new animated series, "Star Wars Rebels," which is set to premiere in fall 2014.

The announcement comes on the heels of the studio's cancellation of the Cartoon Network's "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," animated series, a move that was made because the show aired on the rival network, owned by Time Warner.

Taiwan's Next Media Animation (NMA) studios released another fantastic video last week, this one called "Star Wars Episode 7 Official Trailer."

The crazy video studio, based in Taipei, Taiwan, brings international news to a whole new level by not only reporting on all the latest stories, but providing some hilarious visuals as well through computer animation. Who needs cute girls in front of green screens?

The Star Wars video starts with a guy smoking a cigar dressed as Mickey Mouse sitting with George Lucas and a girl dressed as slave Princess Leia on a couch at a stripclub, while a woma...

With yesterday's unofficial-official Star Wars Day behind us it only seems fitting that such an iconic film series should have its own sequel. After all, the Saga is legendary, having transformed how people watch movies by both pushing forward the technolgies used in filmmaking and in birthing the modern blockbuster.

Two sequels, three prequels, a TV series and an instantly recognizable brand name visible at nearly every retailer in our galaxy, the franchise is still running strong. When's the last time you walked down a Walmart toy aisle without seeing numerous empty pegs where characters...

The Hunger Games has broken box office records, raking in a stunning $19.7 million overnight to make it the highest-grossing midnight opener ever for a non-sequel.

The movie adaptation of author Suzanne Collins' action books, starring Jennifer Lawrence as heroine Katniss Everdeen, had already made $15 million in advance ticket sales, and it drew huge crowds as fans lined up outside theatres across the country to get a first-look at the film upon its release in the early hours of Friday.

The big opening also rockets The Hunger Games into seventh place in the list of top midnight grosses,...

Legendary filmmaker George Lucas has announced he is retiring from Hollywood, insisting he no longer wants to make blockbuster movies.

The "Star Wars" creator is best known for his work on the iconic sci-fi franchise, as well as the "Indiana Jones" films.

He has most recently worked on upcoming blockbuster "Red Tails," but insists unless a fifth "Indiana Jones" movie is made he's finished with the business and wants to instead concentrate on smaller independent projects.

The 67 year old tells the New York Times, "I'm moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of ...

Samuel L. Jackson is big news at the box office - his movies have pulled in $7.4 billion during his career.

The actor has appeared in more than 100 movies since his big break in Spike Lee's 1991 movie "Jungle Fever," and his hard work has paid off - he is the highest-grossing actor of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Thanks to hits such as "Jurassic Park" ($914 million), "Pulp Fiction" ($212 million) and the "Star Wars" prequels ($2.4 billion), Jackson is top of the Hollywood pile, with his films outstripping the competition at the box office.

Lucasfilm announced today that in celebration of the September launch of Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray, it is linking up with celebrities, eBay and Major League Baseball to ask fans to Use the Force for Good to support Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). SU2Cfunds groundbreaking cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives.

"Lucasfilm joining with eBay, Major League Baseball and a wonderful group of actors is an amazing force for good being brought to bear in Stand Up To Cancer's fight against this disease,and we are profoundly grateful," said SU2C Co-Fou...

George Lucas has lost his court battle with a British designer over the rights to make and sell replica Star Wars helmets.

Andrew Ainsworth made the headgear for the original movies and started selling the Stormtrooper helmets in 2004, to fans who wanted to wear them for fancy dress parties.

The creator of the hugely successful sci-fi series attempted to sue Ainsworth for $20 million after he sold some items in America, but Lucas lost the legal battle in the U.K. because a judge rejected claims the helmets are sculptures.

Fans at this year's Comic Con who attended the Star Wars Fan Movie Awards were surprised with a short teaser for the upcoming (Sept. 16) Star Wars Saga Blu-ray release featuring a few storied deleted scenes from the original trilogy.

The clip includes a short teaser from last year's event, in which Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is shown building his green lightsaber before heading off to save Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from Jabba The Hutt.

Also included in the clip are shots of a sandstorm scene and an extended shield generator battle from Return of the Jedi; escaping Wampa snow creatures fr...

Star Wars icon Anthony Daniels has only learned to appreciate the magic of the sci-fi blockbuster in the past two years - by narrating the touring Star Wars in Concert stage spectacular.

The British actor, who has played android C-3PO in all the Star Wars films, admits he was never a true fan of the sci-fi franchise until he stood on the world's stages and watched costumed fans marvel in the music from the movies.

Daniels credits the shows with giving him a new perspective on the films which turned him into a cult star.

He tells the Los Angeles Times, "There's nothing quite like it; it s...

It wouldn't be Star Wars day without an official announcement from Lucasfilm about the upcoming release of the entire Star Wars saga on Blu-ray. Perhaps the most anticipated Blu-ray release since the format's inception, Star Wars: The Complete Saga will be released on September 16th, and features a ton of extras in a nine-disc collection.

Here's the official info, and May the 4th be with you!

Bring home the adventure and share Star Wars with your whole family -- when STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA comes to Blu-ray Disc from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment! To be...

Ewan McGregor will be celebrating on Thursday - the great Scot turns 40 years old.

Born in Crieff, Scotland, drama school drop-out McGregor has been working steadily on the stage, in Hollywood and indie arthouse flicks ever since he wowed with his break-out role as a junkie in 1996's "Trainspotting."

He's proved there's no part he can't tackle, portraying everything from a glam rock star to a priest and, of course, a Jedi Knight.

To salute Ewan on his special day, WENN has opened up the archives and dug up 10 facts about his life.